Seattle Fullback Still Going Strong

CHARLES BRICKER COMMENTARY

February 1, 2006|CHARLES BRICKER COMMENTARY

DETROIT — The perfectly named fullback Mack Strong was searching his NFL memory bank for the most devastating collision he's endured in 12 years of wall-banging 300-pound defensive linemen and large, cranky linebackers.

"My most memorable hit? You know, I don't remember any of them," he finally replied. "But they're all pretty big."

On a day when 106 players, a few dozen coaches and numerous TV windbags supplied the world with two hours of interview gas at Super Bowl Media Day at Ford Field, could anyone have said anything more germane to his job than Strong?

"You know, I don't remember any of them."

For a moment you had the feeling Strong was drifting off to football's version of Palookaville, except that he didn't look or sound punch drunk. In fact, he appeared to be quite glorious with his big smile, amiable personality and 245-pound flying missile of a body perched behind a podium above dozens of reporters.

The NFL doesn't keep such records, but I seriously doubt that any man has played more games at fullback than Strong, who, on Sunday, will participate in his 183rd and make his 96th start -- all with the Seattle Seahawks.

He plays between 50 and 60 snaps a game, depending on how much the Seahawks throw the ball and, when he isn't racing like a madman into a gap, if one exists, along the line of scrimmage for a head-on, he's picking up a blitz or double-teaming the NFL's best pass-rushing defensive ends.

Let's see. Fifty snaps a game (we'll be conservative here) times 100 games (adjusting for times when he's only played special teams or been hurt) comes to 5,000 collisions.

"You know, I don't remember any of them."

How is it possible for anyone to sustain himself at this job? "He's a very tough guy," said his coach, Mike Holmgren. "And I think genetics play a part in it. His body type, his toughness. ... and he's gotten better the last two years. Yes, he's been a little groggy on occasion, playing that position as long as he has, and he's been a little lucky, too."

On the other side of the field in Super Bowl XL will be Dan Kreider of Pittsburgh, who at 255 pounds is just warming up to the job Strong has performed. This will be his 90th game and 54th start. His memory isn't quite as blurred ... yet.

"I play 35 to 40 snaps a game, 16 games a year, six seasons ... I don't know exactly. A lot," Kreider said as he contemplated how many game-day train wrecks he's been in during his years of body-bashing.

"Why do I do this job?" Kreider repeated the question. He shrugged, as if the answer was obvious. "It's the only position I could get on this team. It's what I've done since high school. It's my niche in the system."

These guys don't just get smacked in the face on their headlong forays into the abyss. They've got teammates running up their backs if they don't get out of the way or if they get stacked up among a pile of bodies.

"It's the shoulders and neck mostly that get hurt," said Kreider. "But we've got good people to get you treatment."

Fullback isn't what football personnel executives refer to as a skill position. Which is not to say that blocking isn't an art form. But it's more Picasso, all wild angles and disjointed themes, than the quieter, ethereal beauty of Chagall.

Every once in a while, one of those magical moments arises when the fullback is called upon to carry the ball instead of whacking someone out of the way for the guy behind him, and for Strong it came on Jan. 14 in a 20-10 win over Washington in the playoffs.

Leading by seven points and facing third-and-6 at the Seattle 48 with a bit more than five minutes to play, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck audibled out of a pass and called Strong's number.

He ran 32 yards off right tackle. "Longest run of my career. Longest run in Seahawks playoff history," he said proudly. That one he remembered. "Contrary to other reports, I was not tired after the run," he added.

Teammates, however, couldn't resist teasing. "He was supposed to just get a first down and kill the clock, not run 32 yards," said one.

Others have suggested, falsely of course, that over the years Strong's height has been reduced two inches to 5-foot-10 because of all the collisions he's endured.

This has been a wonderful season for Strong, who is going to the Pro Bowl for the first time after laying blocks on most of teammate Shaun Alexander's 29 touchdown runs.

And don't let him tell you, either now or after he smooths a path to another TD or two in the Super Bowl, that, "You know, I don't remember any of them."